Allegations have surfaced against Panthers owner Jerry Richardson and the environment he has run in Carolina, containing both subtle and overt charges of sexual harassment and misconduct that at once feel stunning and familiar.

Richardson, the 81-year-old principal owner of the Panthers since their inception in 1995, has reached at least four “significant” monetary settlements with former employees due to his behavior, racially slurred a black Panthers scout and used his power and status to lord over a disturbing environment, according to a wide-reaching investigation by Sports Illustrated.

The Panthers on Friday said they had opened an investigation into Richardson’s behavior, hiring outside law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan LLP and saying the team takes the then-publicly unknown allegations seriously. On Sunday, the NFL announced it was taking over the investigation of Richardson, who, according to SI, did everything from ogling women on “Jeans Day” to inappropriately touching them under the guise of putting on their seat belts.

Friday was “Jeans Day,” and the billionaire would ask Panthers employees to turn around so he could see their figures, each time offering up a compliment — ‘”I bet you had to lay down on your bed to fit into those jeans,” was one recycled phrase.

Employees mostly excused this as action by a man from another generation, a Southern man whom everyone simply referred to as “Mister” around Carolina headquarters.

“No one ever said anything, at least not that I heard,” one former Panthers employee told SI. “He was the boss. It was [viewed] more of a creepy-old-man thing than a threat.”

According to the report, Richardson would try to gain trust of women he employed before further harassing them. He would send hand-written notes to women, sometimes containing cash with which he would say to buy dresses or a massage. He would then cross a line, they said, when he studied their bodies.

see also

He would pay for manicures when he did not approve of their nails, they said; multiple female employees told SI that Richardson asked them if he personally could shave their legs.

In further allegations that echo the ones Harvey Weinstein is facing, former employees said he would request their presence at a Bank of America Stadium suite. They would be guided to the suite by a Richardson assistant, who would then leave. One female former Panthers worker said when she arrived, Richardson was barefoot and requested a foot massage. Others had stories about Richardson giving back rubs that traveled too far down their spine.

“The first time, you thought it was an important meeting with the owner,” one former employee said. “You [then] realized it was never anything that couldn’t be discussed over the phone.”

Richardson, a North Carolina native, would use Southern gentleman etiquette for further inappropriate behavior, the report said. In what became known as the “seat belt maneuver,” he would open the car door for a female employee then insist on buckling her seat belt. In the process, he would brush his hand across their breasts, accusers said.

“You look back and it’s wackadoo,” one former Carolina employee said. “You felt preyed upon. You felt fear. You felt self-doubt. But when you’re in [that environment], everywhere you go, every family gathering, it’s, ‘Oh, you work in the NFL? That’s so cool.’ And you don’t want to lose your job.”

At least four ex-employees struck up settlements with Richardson, the report said, each with non-disclosure requirements so they could not speak out. For this and for all the allegations, the Panthers declined comment.

“The Carolina Panthers and Mr. Richardson take these allegations very seriously and are fully committed to a full investigation and taking appropriate steps to address and remediate any misconduct,” the team said. “The entire organization is fully committed to ensuring a safe, comfortable and diverse work environment where all individuals, regardless of sex, race, color, religion, gender, or sexual identity or orientation, are treated fairly and equally.

“Because this matter is under an ongoing legal review, the Carolina Panthers cannot comment publicly on the specifics of the allegations.”